


Safely Home

by unorigelnal (jayburding)



Category: LACKEY Mercedes - Works, Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Character Death Fix, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 12:03:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/686744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayburding/pseuds/unorigelnal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A scene from the not so Last Herald-Mage trilogy. Tylendel and Gala look forward to Vanyel and Yfandes returning from the Border.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safely Home

_:Nearly home:_ Gala said, lifting her knees into the trot so the bells on her panoply rang.

“Excited, love?”

_:Do you think they’re home yet?:_ she asked, too eager to be entirely wistful. The highest points of Haven were looming just over the horizon of the road, and Tylendel could feel the growing urge in Gala to run, the itch in her feet to gallop the rest of the way.

“If they aren’t back already, then they won’t be home today,” Tylendel said, and felt the double twinge of disappointment run through both of them. “The only other Heralds on the South Trade Road are going out to the Border, not coming back.”

_:They won’t be going back that way for a long time if we have anything to say about it.:_

Tylendel couldn’t agree more.

Once they were on the road to the Collegium, the crowd cleared and Tylendel let Gala stretch her pace to match her enthusiasm. They passed the Guard and rounded the corner at the edge of the Companion’s Field, when Gala suddenly whinnied and gathered herself to jump, nearly dislodging Tylendel in the process.

_:Yfandes!:_

The older mare was dozing in a patch of sunshine barely beyond the stable door, but she woke to Gala’s whinny and the sound of her name. Even so, it was all she could do to return Gala’s enthusiastic welcome. She looked like she’d been through the wringer.

Tylendel dismounted once he could get Gala to stand still long enough for him to do so, and offered his hand to Yfandes who presented her nose for him to stroke with all the weary dignity of a lady of the Court.

“Welcome home, love,” he said, and tried to focus on his relief, rather than his concern at how worn she looked. If she was this bad, then what of her Chosen? Tylendel was near overwhelmed by his need to see Vanyel. He had held his patience for the year they’d been gone, but it wouldn’t hold much longer.

_:Yfandes says he went to see Savil:_ Gala told him, hovering at Yfandes’ side. She’d have been purring like a cat if she was capable.

“Ok, let’s get your tack off and then I’ll head up.”

At any other time he would have been ashamed of the barely cursory grooming he gave Gala, but between his impatience and her constant nudging him to go, he knew she’d forgive him.

_:Just go!:_ she said and whickered a laugh. _:I’ll have a roll and cuddle up with Yfandes. You can do it properly later. Get going!:_

She didn’t need to tell him twice.

Though he really wanted to, Tylendel made it a point not to run in the corridors, however empty the Heralds’ quarters currently were. If the Trainees saw him, he’d never hear the end of it.

Savil had long moved out of the suite she’d occupied when he and Vanyel had been Trainees, and was now rattling around with the few others housed in the new wing. How they were ever going to have enough Heralds to fill the place was beyond him.

By the time he arrived at her door, he had to swallow his heart back down from where it had fought its way up into his mouth. He could See two people within, but when he reached out a silent request to come in, the only response was from Savil.

_:Quietly, kechara,:_ was all she said.

He opened the door as carefully as he could and crept in. Savil was ensconced in her favourite chair, a monstrous blue affair, and lifted her head to smile at him as soon as he entered.

Vanyel sat at her feet, head against her knee, fast asleep.

Tylendel almost wanted to laugh at the sight, but it was a little too painful for that. If Yfandes had looked bad, Vanyel looked like absolute hell, and that was with Gods knew what else hidden under the faded, baggy clothing he wore. There was nothing spare on him anymore: even his face showed the loss of weight he really hadn’t had to lose. Then there were the dark circles under his eyes, the noticeable white in his hair, from the nodes or stress it was impossible to tell.

And yet, for all that, he was possibly the most beautiful sight Tylendel had ever seen.

He sat down heavily on the couch opposite, and smiled for Savil when he realised she was watching him.

_:He’s home; he’s safe,:_ he said, and felt a weight lift off of him that he hadn’t been fully aware of until it was gone.

_:And hair triggered, kechara, so mind you don’t startle him,:_ Savil said, though she smiled to feel his joy overtake his worry. It had become so rare in recent months.

_:I won’t wake him. He needs the rest too badly. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer.:_

That was much harder than it sounded, but Tylendel was hardly selfish enough to wake Vanyel, no matter how impatient he was. Savil did a grand job of distracting him with questions about the courier run he’d taken with Gala, and then telling him about her Guardianship when he asked after the new Mage Focus on the table beside her.

He checked in with Gala, and found her similarly entrenched in gossiping with Kellan, though she wouldn’t venture more than a body length from Yfandes, who was once more fast asleep like her Chosen.

_Seems we’ve both developed a protective streak._

They burned away a good part of the day with talk. Even after he’d been confined to Haven due to injury after his stint on the Border, Tylendel and Savil had seen precious little of each other; too much work and never enough hours in the day. It was good to take the time to catch up.

They were so engrossed in fact, that the first gentle flow of Feeling from his bond caught Tylendel by surprise. He reached back, revelling in the renewal of the bond that had lain dormant with distance for over a year, and smiled to see Vanyel stir.

The look that passed over his _shay’kreth’aske_ ’s face when Vanyel set eyes on him was humbling in its fervour.

“’Lendel.”

Tylendel knelt down from the couch and gathered Vanyel into his arms before he could so much as stir from where he sat.

“I missed you, _ashke_ ,” he whispered and felt a little less ridiculous when Vanyel clung to him just as tightly. If he cried, he didn’t care, because the only people who could see were those he trusted with more than his life. He felt whole again, for the first time in over a year.

“Welcome home.”


End file.
